The People

In Central Gor you find the great city-states like Ar, where citizens of many castes live under structured law, commerce is large-scale, and status depends on birth, office, and wealth. Warriors hold high caste above Builders, Scribes, and Physicians; slaves (kajirae and kajirus) form the bottom layer. Free men debate philosophy, fight in armies, train in the caste duties, and trade widely. Women of free castes live in relative comfort, dress richly, run households or trade, but also navigate a highly stratified society. Foreigners, traders, and adventurers from distant lands flock here seeking opportunity or power. Central Gor is the hub of civilization on Gor—law, market, empire, and culture.

The Dangers

Power is concentrated, so intrigue, betrayal, and war are constant. City-state rivalries flare into conflict; conspiracies among Scribes or Initiates can upend lives overnight. Slavery is ever-present and violent—escape is perilous and consequences brutal. Outside the cities, borderlands hold bandits, deserters, and slaver-raiders who prey upon caravans and villages. The countryside also contains wild beasts, lost ruins of ancient tech suppressed by the Priest-Kings, and forbidden zones where the alien Kurii or rebel elements lurk. In Central Gor the dangers are both political and physical—wealth and rank attract threat just as surely as wilderness does.

The Landscape

Central Gor is marked by fertile plains, wide rivers like the Vosk River, trade routes, and cities built with stone, columns, and classical architecture. Field towns and great mansions sprawl along riverbanks; canals, marketplaces and docks bustle with goods and slaves. Beyond the fields lie hills, forests, and frontier lands—but central zone remains the heart of farming, trade, and empire. The climate is moderate compared to the far north or south deserts—the seasons change, crops grow, and civilization stands visibly strong. Roads, walls, fortress towns, merchant quarters and urban culture dominate.

The Creatures

In Central Gor you find both standard wildlife and monstrous threats. Forests host wolves, wild boars, and sleen (especially nearer northern edges). Rivers hold fish and giant water-beasts. In the cities you’ll encounter trained war-beasts, captive exotic animals, and creatures tied to the alien presence of the Kurii. Slave-traders may import exotic fauna from the Outer Lands. Rarely, ancient machines suppressed by the Priest-Kings are rumored to animate beasts or constructs hidden beneath the cities. The environment is less raw than the frontier—but civilization here still borders the wild and the alien.

Street-Level Law

1. Weapons & Fighting

In Ar, carrying a weapon is common, using it is dangerous.
Guards don’t care what you wear at your belt—only why it’s drawn.
If steel comes out in a market, expect a dozen scarlet-clad Warriors on you fast.
Draw a blade inside the Central Cylinder and you might as well order your own funeral pyre.
Street brawls are tolerated; street killings are not.

2. Theft & Markets

Merchants run their stalls like small kingdoms.
You steal a fig? Expect a beating.
You steal a purse? Expect the magistrate.
You steal from a Merchant House? Expect slavery—or disappearance.
Fake weights, short measures, and false coin are worse than thieving; they insult the caste.
That brings ruin, not punishment.

3. Slaves

Slaves are everywhere—property, not people.
Touch another man’s slave without his leave and you’re asking for a duel.
Harm a slave and pay damages.
Steal one and you’re a thief.
Free a slave illegally and you’re a traitor to the city.
Runaway slaves? Bring them in; owners pay coin for returned property.

4. Free Women

Veiled, guarded, and legally protected.
If you insult one, expect a Warrior, a brother, or a hired blade.
If you lay hands on one, you’re dead or enslaved.
If she lies about you, good luck proving otherwise—Scribes favor reputation over defense.

5. Taverns, Pits & Dens

The law relaxes in dark corners.
Gambling pits are watched by enforcers—city guards look the other way for a cut.
Drunken fights end in bruises and fines, not courts.
But spill blood on the tavern floor often enough and eventually someone sells you as a troublemaker.

6. Duels

Duels settle most disputes.
You insult a man? He offers steel.
A scribe or warrior must witness it for the outcome to “count.”
Win cleanly and the matter ends.
Win dishonorably and you make more enemies than you remove.

7. Foreigners

Foreigners get temporary protection as “guests,” but not rights.
They can be cheated, overcharged, mocked, or tested—so long as no one draws first blood.
If a foreigner harms a citizen, the law drops like a hammer.
If a citizen harms a foreigner, it becomes “a misunderstanding.”

8. Guards & Corruption

Officially, Ar’s Warriors enforce law.
Unofficially, coin fixes many problems.
A purse tossed the right way can smooth over a minor brawl or a broken window.
But no coin buys forgiveness for treason, rebellion, or insulting high castes.

9. The Initiates

People avoid arguing with the white robes.
They don’t kill—they have others do it.
You defy a temple order, you end up flogged, exiled, or conveniently disappeared.
Street wisdom: “Walk wide of the temples and speak soft.”

10. The Real Rule

Ar looks polished, but the streets run on three truths:

Keep your blade down.
Keep your debts paid.
Keep your mouth smart, not sharp.

Everything else is just parchment and ceremony.